Recently in Finished in 2008 Category
My son asked me to make him a pair of mittens to replace the much-loved pair he lost in Beijing. These were a quick knit using two strands of worsted weight (Cascade 220, Dark Charcoal Heather) and 6 mm needles. The pattern is one that I picked up many years ago at my LYS. They are wonderfully warm and nearly windproof.
Edited to add: I didn't think it would still be around, but it is! You can order the pattern here.
Before
After
Contrary to appearances, the left and right mittens are actually the same size.
With impeccable timing, Ben left for Vancouver (enroute to China) about 1 hour before our first snow storm of the season. Overnight on Tuesday we got about 15 cm (6 inches) of wet snow. It was cold and windy enough to put on all my winter gear for the bus commute to work Wednesday morning. By late afternoon it looked like this.
The wintery weather prompted me to FINALLY knit up a pair of Fiber Trends Felt Clogs (Cascade 220, Dark Charcoal Heather and Red). That's a full-size laptop they are sitting on.
Before
After
Needless to say, it is going to be unseasonably warm for the rest of this week.
Edited to add: I didn't think it would still be around, but it is! You can order the pattern here.
Before
After
Contrary to appearances, the left and right mittens are actually the same size.
With impeccable timing, Ben left for Vancouver (enroute to China) about 1 hour before our first snow storm of the season. Overnight on Tuesday we got about 15 cm (6 inches) of wet snow. It was cold and windy enough to put on all my winter gear for the bus commute to work Wednesday morning. By late afternoon it looked like this.
The wintery weather prompted me to FINALLY knit up a pair of Fiber Trends Felt Clogs (Cascade 220, Dark Charcoal Heather and Red). That's a full-size laptop they are sitting on.
Before
After
Needless to say, it is going to be unseasonably warm for the rest of this week.
A little while ago, maybe a month, my older daughter told me that her friend Dmitri was going to Siberia (something about diamond mining) and she wanted to knit him a scarf like the ribbed one she had made herself - K1 P1 rib - but bright red. I said that I would check at the yarn store when I was there to teach my next class, and let her know what would be her best options. The requirements were that the yarn be thick (to knit up quickly), soft, warm, bright red, and not too expensive. Washable would be a bonus.
Since the red had to be a true red (not pink-red or orange-red) that narrowed the choices to Cascade Superwash, doubled, or Patons Shetland Chunky. The Shetland Chunky was definitely the more economic way to go, wouldn't involve working with two balls at once, and I happened to have two balls (not red) in my stash. So I figured I would work up a swatch to show her how many stitches to cast on, what needle to use, and what it would feel like.
I chose a 5 mm Addi Turbo that was lying about, cast on 36 stitches, and started to knit. I slipped the first stitch purlwise, worked K1 P1 to the last stitch, and knit the last stitch. It felt nice and squooshy and was working up to be about 5.75 in wide (14.5 cm). After knitting about 4 inches (10 cm) I showed it to my daughter, she approved, and I picked up two balls of the red yarn for her.
Since the variegated yarn I was swatching with (Harvest colourway) was doing an interesting stripey thing, I decided to keep knitting. That gift-giving season is approaching after all. The result, you can see below on the left. The finished scarf, unblocked, is 58 inches long, but will definitely grow in length and could easily be blocked to 60 inches or more.
It was such an interesting and unexpected result that I bought another colourway (Winter Moon) just to see if it would do the same thing. It did. Everglades is also working up nicely.
Don't you think it looks like a cross between a plaid and an argyle? I call it Plargyle. Give it a try. If you can match my gauge it should work. It is fun and makes you look very clever. But...
Not every colourway will work. Ashes of Roses just wouldn't, so it is being bias knit in garter stitch. I have a few more colourways that I want to try, so I will keep you posted on what works and what doesn't.
Since the red had to be a true red (not pink-red or orange-red) that narrowed the choices to Cascade Superwash, doubled, or Patons Shetland Chunky. The Shetland Chunky was definitely the more economic way to go, wouldn't involve working with two balls at once, and I happened to have two balls (not red) in my stash. So I figured I would work up a swatch to show her how many stitches to cast on, what needle to use, and what it would feel like.
I chose a 5 mm Addi Turbo that was lying about, cast on 36 stitches, and started to knit. I slipped the first stitch purlwise, worked K1 P1 to the last stitch, and knit the last stitch. It felt nice and squooshy and was working up to be about 5.75 in wide (14.5 cm). After knitting about 4 inches (10 cm) I showed it to my daughter, she approved, and I picked up two balls of the red yarn for her.
Since the variegated yarn I was swatching with (Harvest colourway) was doing an interesting stripey thing, I decided to keep knitting. That gift-giving season is approaching after all. The result, you can see below on the left. The finished scarf, unblocked, is 58 inches long, but will definitely grow in length and could easily be blocked to 60 inches or more.
It was such an interesting and unexpected result that I bought another colourway (Winter Moon) just to see if it would do the same thing. It did. Everglades is also working up nicely.
Don't you think it looks like a cross between a plaid and an argyle? I call it Plargyle. Give it a try. If you can match my gauge it should work. It is fun and makes you look very clever. But...
Not every colourway will work. Ashes of Roses just wouldn't, so it is being bias knit in garter stitch. I have a few more colourways that I want to try, so I will keep you posted on what works and what doesn't.
Yes! My son is home for a visit. Of course it has been much too warm to wear the sweater (Cobblestone, by Jared Flood, knit in DK Peace Fleece) but its time will come.
We had a lot of fun doing a little photo shoot in the front yard. The whole silly set is here. I'm sure it will give you a smile or two.
Here are a few selected photos for those who find Flickr too slow.
Rose's hat and wristers are made from Belfast Mini Mills worsted weight merino/mohair (50/50). The hat is my own design. The wristers are a great free pattern from Ysolda. Leba's purple wristers are the same pattern knit from a skein of handspun purchased long ago from Perchance to Knit. The lovely purple moustache skein is Marina, from Fleece Artist. It is a machine washable blend of 65% merino, 20% kid, 10% nylon, and 5% silk; 160m/115g. It is destined to be a hat, I hope.
Next time (sooner than you think), pictures of the yarn and patterns Ben brought me from Estonia and an amazing new scarf "design". You can see the scarf in the first photo.
Tricky question, that. Especially when it is already nearing sleep time. But there shall be blogging first!
So I shall begin with last week, working in random bits of knitting as seems fitting. Oh, but first I want to show you this:
This awesome piece of art is now gracing the wall above my bed. It was done in art class by one of my daughter's fellow grade 12 students. She opted for a gift certificate from her LYS in lieu of cash. Clearly she is one of us. Heather, thank you so much.
Now, about last week. I was not home. I was here:
Beautiful downtown Vancouver.
I attended this conference, but managed to fit in a couple of visits to Granville Island, a walk around Lost Lagoon in Stanley Park, and even one LYS.
It is a wonderful shop full of really good stuff. I bought a beautiful shawl pin, but you will have to wait for a photo. It looks great with my just-finished Celtic vest. No photo of the Finished Object, but here is an in-progress pic.
While I was on Granville Island, taking in the public market, great coffee, and the work of so many wonderful artisans, it started to rain. This was the perfect excuse to make a purchase at ...
Oh. You want to know what that thing is hanging on the chair? That is another FO! It is one of these, in the Autumn colourway. Here is a better picture, but alas no modeled shot. Another day.
Vancouver was lovely, but by far the best part of my trip was a visit to Carmanah Point Lightstation.
I love flying in the Bell 212.
Especially in the coveted left seat.
More next time, but if you can't wait for the narrative you can find the pictures here.
So I shall begin with last week, working in random bits of knitting as seems fitting. Oh, but first I want to show you this:
This awesome piece of art is now gracing the wall above my bed. It was done in art class by one of my daughter's fellow grade 12 students. She opted for a gift certificate from her LYS in lieu of cash. Clearly she is one of us. Heather, thank you so much.
Now, about last week. I was not home. I was here:
Beautiful downtown Vancouver.
I attended this conference, but managed to fit in a couple of visits to Granville Island, a walk around Lost Lagoon in Stanley Park, and even one LYS.
It is a wonderful shop full of really good stuff. I bought a beautiful shawl pin, but you will have to wait for a photo. It looks great with my just-finished Celtic vest. No photo of the Finished Object, but here is an in-progress pic.
While I was on Granville Island, taking in the public market, great coffee, and the work of so many wonderful artisans, it started to rain. This was the perfect excuse to make a purchase at ...
Oh. You want to know what that thing is hanging on the chair? That is another FO! It is one of these, in the Autumn colourway. Here is a better picture, but alas no modeled shot. Another day.
Vancouver was lovely, but by far the best part of my trip was a visit to Carmanah Point Lightstation.
I love flying in the Bell 212.
Especially in the coveted left seat.
More next time, but if you can't wait for the narrative you can find the pictures here.
This weekend alone, as a result of our most recent winter storm, which gave us more than half a metre , I have moved more than a tonne (1000 kg; 2200 lb) of snow. There is a photoset you can go look at if you are so inclined, but here are a choice few. We are close to a new record, but personally, as one who remembers the winter of 1970-71 and the 444 cm (175 in) we got that year, I wouldn't be sad to settle for the 411 cm (162 in) that we have so far this year. But it is only the 10th of March.
Oh, that 43 cm in the picture below is misleading, because it doesn't include the snow from the night before, which I shoveled before I went to bed.
Oh, and I finished my Cobblestone too.
Stupid snow was good for something.
Oh, that 43 cm in the picture below is misleading, because it doesn't include the snow from the night before, which I shoveled before I went to bed.
Oh, and I finished my Cobblestone too.
Stupid snow was good for something.
